Facing Death Twice

Rabbi Uriel Malka, age 32, was working as a chaplain in the Prisons Service and died tragically in Israel's worst fire.

Rabbi Uriel Malka, 32, who fought in the IDF against Hizbullah in hand-to-hand combat in the Second Lebanon War, was among those killed on the Prisons Service bus that was engulfed by flames in the Carmel forest fire on Thursday.

Malka, from Karnei Shomron, who was training to be a chaplain in the prison system, was with Prisons Service cadets en route to Damun Prison to evacuate prisoners from the paths of the flames.

A former principal at the Ohr Hatorah Day School in Winnipeg, Canada, Malka recalled in an extensive interview in October 2008 that he narrowly escaped death fighting Hizbullah two years earlier.

“It is a miracle that I am alive, as there were times in the war when I was shot at directly by Hizbullah terrorist fighters,” he said. “I met them face to face. I could see their eyes.”

Twelve of Malka’s colleagues from his paratroop unit were killed in a Katyusha rocket attack on Kfar Giladi, as they were standing outside, in a parking lot, en route to deployment in the Lebanon War on August 6, 2006.

“I was not in Kfar Giladi with them because I was already in Lebanon,” he recalled in the interview.

“We did not find out that those in our unit had died right away. Our commander had us take out the batteries to our equipment so we could not hear the names of those who died so we wouldn’t realize they were from our unit. Four days later our commander called us together in the [deserted] home of a Hizbullah terrorist and told us what had happened. He told us we had to be strong. It was very difficult.”

Malka, who is survived by his wife, Ortal, and five children, recalled in the 2008 interview that on his very first day in the Second Lebanon War he got a taste of how difficult things were going to be.

While fighting in the village of Rabat Talatin, he said, “Hizbullah terrorists were shooting at us in one direction, and as we pursued them from that direction, another group of Hizbullah came from the other direction.

There were 60 of us from my unit in a Hizbullah home. Hizbullah had the opportunity to shoot three missiles at us in the house.

Had they hit the house, all of us would have died. The first two missiles just missed the house. The third one hit the roof. We were all lucky to get out alive.”

At the time Malka got called up to fight with his unit, he was scheduled to go on shlichut (emissary service) with his family to teach in Denver.

“My ticket was booked and our suitcases were already packed. The Jewish Agency later told me that if I had explained the situation to the army, I would not have had to serve in the war. But I knew I couldn’t go to Denver and leave my friends. We are like brothers in my unit. I couldn’t have left them to fight alone. So I canceled my ticket and we got to Denver later than planned. I left for Denver two days after the war ended.”

Malka reflected on his experience in the 2006 war, saying “We had lots of problems with not getting enough supplies sent to us. We would take over a Hizbullah home and we wouldn’t have enough to eat. So we were eating rice and potatoes and items from the homes of Hizbullah....

“We underestimated how well Hizbullah was prepared for us,” he said. “They had better electronic and communications equipment than we realized, they knew the terrain and they had built extensive escape routes, which made it hard to find them.”

He added: “In Lebanon, my unit fought at night, because we had special equipment that gave us good night vision, which gave us an advantage over Hizbullah. But then it turned out we did not have enough of this special equipment, and this advantage was eliminated. We then fought also in the day. A lot of things went wrong. I don’t like to talk about it.”

Malka’s wife, Ortal, who was also interviewed in 2008, remembered that when her husband was called up to Lebanon, she was very worried. “I was four months pregnant, and it was a very stressful time.”

Ortal taught at the preschool at Ohr Hatorah Day School in Winnipeg in the fall of 2008, before the couple returned to Israel. Her husband had a bachelor of education degree from the Beit Midrash for Teachers of Judaic Studies in Rehovot, and was a graduate of the IDF’s hesder program, which combines study and military service within a religious Zionist framework.

Prior to leaving Israel for Denver, Malka and his family lived in the settlement of Karnei Shomron, east of Kfar Saba. Before arriving in Winnipeg, he spent two years teaching at an Orthodox day school in Denver.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 10

(10)
Anonymous,
December 12, 2010 3:16 PM

How sad to lose such an idealistic, unusually strong religious personality who was altruistic and a lover of Eretz Yisrael. I feel for his wife and children who will know he died for his country but whose personal integrity and guidance will be sorely missed by the family. Yehi Zichro Baruch.

(9)
Gemma,
December 11, 2010 10:48 PM

Baruch Dayan Haemes

(8)
Anonymous,
December 11, 2010 12:57 AM

This is hard

May Hashem be with Ortal ane the kids

(7)
Jack,
December 9, 2010 5:16 PM

An Angel gets his wings

In life, a Rabbi...now, an Angel.

(6)
Anonymous,
December 9, 2010 2:44 AM

No words

Reading about Rav Uriel Malka's short but brilliant life is so tough. You tend to feel so disconnected when you're far away from Israel. All I want to do now is to try to bring a bit more sweetness to the people around me. You just never know. And not everyone gets second chances. May the his family and children be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

(5)
Irit,
December 8, 2010 3:17 AM

Denver memories as his student

I had him as my teacher in Denver for two years. He used to tell us stories about the army and sometimes we would reenact them with him. The principal was puzzled when she peaked into the windows, so the lights off, and heard us shouting "Rimon, Rimon!" He was always loving and caring and greated EVERYONE with the warmest smile. We not only loved him, but we also love his wife and adorable kids. It was very hard for our school to hear the tragic news, and we had a psychologist come to help us all. The memories with him are endless! Rabbi Malka, you told us stories of your friend who took the bullet for others, and now you have become niftar when trying to help others (the Palestinian prisoners). You are my hero and we will love you for always!!!

(4)
Semyon,
December 7, 2010 4:12 PM

Hero

Short But Very Valuable Life!

(3)
A Jew,
December 7, 2010 3:48 PM

Baruch Dayan HaEmet

But does the author really have to call Karnei Shomron a "settlement", knowing the derogatory use of the term today in reference to Israel? How about a town?

(2)
ruth housman,
December 7, 2010 3:01 PM

this tragic fire

It is deeply upsetting to read about this fire in Carmel and the loss of life, and this story, of a Rabbi who escaped death before and narrowly in fighting for his country. It is hard to remain hopeful about this inchoate word, peace, when the best of us falls, and fall we do. But we do not fail, if we do it for love, and I sense he did, and had so much to love, and is beloved by so many. Tragically his children lose a father and his wife a dear partner.
How do we comprehend loss after loss, and also the victories that do keep our flags waving, that do fire us, towards more deeds that are about love?
Since I do believe we are moving into a new state of consciousness, and since with all conscience, I must believe in love, as a moving force, then I do look beyond the grave, to more. Perhaps there is more we cannot see, meaning those who depart are somehow still with us, and all the world's a stage, as Shakespeare's words do imply?
One thing we do know, we must ACT, whether it is Act One or the last Act in this our lives, and ACT always with love and carrying a torch that is about hope itself for a better world for us and especially our children.

(1)
SHIMON,
December 7, 2010 2:50 PM

YEHYE ZICRO BARUCH

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THE CORE OF OUR NATION. MAY HASHEM TAKE HIM UNDER HIS WINGS AND MAY HIS ZECUT STAND FOR ALL OF US AMEN.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!